"Seven Deaths ..." tells the story of the aftermath of an emperor at a pointless battle on the edges of his conquered lands. Part who-dunnit, part low scale fantasy, it gives us some delicious power struggles and intrigue but with only surface world building.
General Bordan is in the capital and tasked with settling the empire's citizens under the powers of the copy-and-paste heir to the throne and soon tasked with solving further murders. The alternative PoV is whining magician's apprentice Kyron who was accompanying the emperor and is now travelling with his body back to the capital so that the heir can take on their line's memories through a magical amulet. Now that I think about it, I don't see why the body was all that important, the amulet could have been taken at speed and the ascendance done much earlier without the peril of the slow trudge through the far-from-loyal areas more recently brought into the empire. His journey is one of character arc as his powers grow stronger but without any real catalyst or training, he just suddenly goes from struggling with small tasks to yeeting magic bombs around.
Claiming to be grimdark, I was looking forward to some gritty violent tale with rotten power-hungry people after each other. I didn't feel like we got this, with negligible violence and no real morally-grey characters as such - we have the usual mix of heroes and villains and while one of the heroes starts off with an immoral act, it is explained and justified and there endeth the greyness of his character.
The world feels like it has a rich history and comparable in many ways to the Roman empire, but we get no real world building to speak of. All we really know are the forests are full of "savage" anti-empire tribes and there is a bridge. I don't even remember the name of the capital if I'm honest. And the magic system at times feels well thought out but then changes or develops when the plot needs it (the specific abilities of the clearly-signposted hidden magic user having not been foreshadowed at all and mostly waved away when they are shown).
Each chapter begins with a snapshot of a young boy's life, but these snapshots added nothing to the story for me - any reader will automatically be pondering their significance and there was no great surprise of relevance of of who the boy was and the revelation added nothing to the story - I had been hoping there was more to it.
The book is something of a page-turner for one of its size, while there is a lot of internal monologuing and narrative exposition, it doesn't become too flowery or slow the story down too much, except maybe a little in the middle third.
In all, this was a decent story but I was left hoping for more and quite disappointed in the ending.

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while. I was so excited for it that I got four different copies across various formats. I just love the cover, especially for the ARC. This wasn’t quite what I had expected it to be but that’s not a negative.

This is VERY political. If you’re looking for a sweeping adventure that takes you all over the place with tons of action, I wouldn’t really recommend this. It does have regular action among the travel and in the city, but it’s not what stands out here (though it is fun and makes for good regular breaks). Where this book really shines is the political intrigue and development. It’s intricate and detailed and while that sounds like it could get boring or confusing quickly, that’s not actually how I felt about it. It always added enough interesting details to have me hanging on the edge of what’s about to happen next.

The part I did struggle with a bit were the characters. I REALLY disliked some of them and just groaned every time they came on page. At first, that included one of the narrators (I really liked the other one). Thankfully, his development did eventually make me like him. It was pretty satisfying by the end.

I have a little bit of mixed feelings about the ending but can’t actually put my finger on the reason for it because theoretically it’s the kind of ending I should really like. The action was fun and I liked the faster pace of it. I’m not sure what it is. I do know though that I’ll be reading the next book as well whenever it comes out and I think I’ll reread this one eventually too. I have a feeling I’ll appreciate the political intricacy even more the second time around.

I've always really enjoyed classic fantasy books, and so when this one came on my radar I was extremely excited, especially since grimdark is a newer genre of fantasy for me.

While this book was well written in many parts, there were times where both the world building and characters left some things to be desired. If you like classic fantasy, I definitely recommend giving this one a go.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

I mostly read this because Mark Lawrence recommended it and despite the usual grit, empires, rebellions, magic etc. this is actually quite an unusual book for today's fantasy market. It reminded me more like David Gemmell (who I love) than the usual run of the mill 2020's fantasy writers. Will def. keep an eye out for more by the author. Very good indeed with a sort of expert / neophyte relationship at the core and a Roman-esque feel.

This had some interesting concepts and I appreciated that the author was prepared to be dark and commit to it, but ultimately, there were points in the narrative when I was a bit bored. I liked the two points of view that we had and the political machinations of the empire were intriguing, but I found some elements a bit too predictable. Overall, I think that this book definitely has an audience - anyone with an interest in Roman history would get something out of the world here - but for me, it was just ok.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by this one from Netgalley as I’ve enjoyed Matthews’ work before. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, something about it jarred me quite early. I think the main part of that was it felt quite modern-acting in old clothes, and likely to be rather heavy and grim. I guess I was never that sold on this one’s concept and went it because it was Matthews, and left quickly when that lack of sale came through.

Seven Deaths of an Empire by G.R. Matthews was an underwhelming read that lacked enough character development and world-building to make me interested and invested. The book cover, premise, and title, all of which drew me to the book in the first place, were not enough to sate my bookish appetite. Chapter after chapter led to one disappointment after another, which left me feeling that I have read this all before but better crafted. While I look forward to seeing what Matthews writes in the near future, Seven Deaths of an Empire was truly not for me, at this time. And this says a lot for someone who loves political intrigue mixed with fantasy and historical fiction…

The premise of this story is really cool. I thought I would enjoy the world building, magic and plot. But it seemed to drag on in places where it really didn't need to and went too fast in others.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an e-arc in exchange of an honest review

The emperor is dead and now the main task is to get the body back to the kingdom in order for his son to take up the throne. The book started out great. The way the author managed to create so much intrigue in such short chapter was fantastic. The characters felt well fletched out and I rooted for them. However, the book had little to no magic making it very difficult for me. The pacing was really slow as it was building up a lot.

Such a great book! I enjoyed reading this one so much! I highly recommend this book. Side note: the cover!!!!

I feel pretty conflicted about this book. I was so excited to start it and once I did I had an amazing time. I absolutely loved that it switched from one POV to the other every chapter and I liked both equally. The concept was great, loved the world-building and magic system and I enjoyed the writing. It's just that I didn't particularly loved the ending. I honestly didn't expect it to end that way. This is definitely a book I would want to reread to see if my opinions on it changes after the fact.

While I'm still unsure about my own feelings, I would recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending an eARC of this book.

What really drew me in with this book was the title and if I'm being completely honest, in my opinion, that was the only good thing about it.

I began this book complete and utterly confused and it didn't get any better. I found it very difficult to connect to the story and the characters. I love a good historical fiction but I don't think this one was for me so please don't let my opinion stop you from reading this book.

if you love a book that is heavy on war and magic then by all means give it a whirl but I feel it just didn't hit the nail on the head for me and I ended up DNFing this book after only a few chapters.

An amazing fantasy novel rich of political intrigue and unique magic system. A very gripping read with a very accessible writing style.

I started reading this book and found that it was not for me. I didn't want to review a book that I didn't finish.

This book was perfection. I loved every single chapter and page. I was on the edge of my seat towards to end, crying with sadness and then happiness!
This book has it all, empires, magicians, smothering religious beliefs, who-dun-it, coming of age, found family. Honestly got to be the best book I have read in a while. If you loved game of thrones, you will love this book. So easy to read, none of the waffling and unnecessary words. It's a refreshing change in the dark fantasy genre. Well worth picking up

Nothing groundbreaking, but it was enjoyable. While Seven Deaths of an Empire didn't introduce anything new to the genre, the plot was enjoyable and the worldbuilding is great. It's definitely a good start for those who are starting to read fantasy.

I like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at this book.

You know how when you read a book you just feel that something is either hollow and or ... not clicking with you? That was this book unfortunately. I think the issues I am having is that while the setting is interesting and there is characters and an objective... it's a lot of words with no real imagination or feeling.

I don't feel like the characters have a lot of depth to them. The feel like robots on paper that are just playing out a story. I don't feel any connection or pull to keep going on and reading more about this group of people making their way back to the kingdom with the body of the Regent.

Seven Deaths of an Empire is a Roman-inspired fantasy set in a world where the empire is actively trying to conquer and control the “barbarians” in the forests. However, due to the sudden passing of the Emporer, the whole empire is struck by uncertainty and fear. We follow two POVs, Bordan, a general that has gained a reputation of being loyal and skilled through his many years of service, and the apprentice Kyron, who is being trained by his Master Padarn, to become a magician. The story is told in alternating chapters between the Magician and the General's points of view.

The story itself was interesting, but it had an incredibly slow start. It took me about halfway to really warm up to it, and I was pretty invested by the time I hit the 80% mark, but because of that it took me ages just to get to that halfway point. I nearly DNF'd this book because of the slow pacing that dragged on even though the writing is accessible and easy to grasp. The world-building is average, I mean we get to know the world and some of the history but I wanted more from the magic and something different and more exciting which I felt was lacking here.
In many ways, this is a coming-of-age fantasy as the torch is passed from the older generation of the General and the Magician to the younger not-quite-ready generation of the Emperor's children and the apprentice. In some ways, both the Emperor's children and the apprentice seem almost too young for their years, too naive, too quick to judge. A bit more well-rounding of their characters would be in order.
The chapters are kind of short to medium, like 10 pages in average so it kind of keeps things going which I enjoyed. I think the problem is that I saw where things where going from early on, there is a mystery part to the story that is a huge part of the narrative and plot but for me and from my experience reading this kind of books, it was obvious because it is always “that person” and that kind of affected my experience because I hoped for more. Toward the end there was a plot twist that I didn’t see but it was not really a plot twist because it only lead to something I expected!

3.5/5

"How do you bring peace by starting a war?"

After the death of the emperor in the middle of a military campaign, the empire prepares for his funeral and his son to replace him. We have two POV, that of General Bordan, who has dedicated his entire life to the service of the empire, and that of apprentice mage Kyron, who is among the retinue appointed to escort the body of the late emperor to the capital.

"Sometimes simple answers are the truth."

Although with General Bordan I was immediately able to connect with his character, with Kyron it took me longer. His character is not only stubborn, but also very complaining, he was whinning al the time, and he did not questioning things that were obviously wrong, or at least could make you doubt. However, later, his character learned, matured, and began to show good potential. I always find it positive that the characters learn something throughout the story.

Both characters are involved in the political intrigues that follow the death of the emperor, and must find a way to survive. The stability of the empire is at stake, and also the survival of the magicians, who are considered abominations by the church and its faithful. The political game creates a very good atmosphere for the book, very tense, which accompanies the narrative very well.

It is very well written, and I actually marked several phrases that were significant to me. The plot of the story grabbed me from the synopsis, and the pacing was generally pretty consistent. In my opinion, the world building needed a little more development. In particular, I get the impression that the potential of the type of magic proposed by the author was not fully exploited.

In general, a book that I really liked, I found it entertaining, and I would definitely like to read this author again.

"It is a big commitment, to teach another."